In a statement to Kotaku, EA responded to their Consumerist "Worst Company in America" title saying: "We're sure that British Petroleum, AIG, Philip Morris, and Halliburton are all relieved they weren't nominated this year. We're going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide."

As I pointed out yesterday, EA probably doesn't actually deserve the "worst company" title, but they've certainly earned "most hated." A company that makes games that millions of people play probably shouldn't even be in the offing to begin with; the fact that Electronic Arts has managed this speaks volumes about the way fans feel - especially since this is a fan-driven contest. You can't raise red flags much bigger than this one.

The simple fact of the matter is that EA is a game maker - they're not even in the same league as many of the actually-worst-companies in America. Soul searching seems to be the remedy of the day. Why are fans so upset? It goes well beyond the BioWare story, beyond DLC (downloadable content) and to what I think consumers in the gaming industry are starting to see as wholly unnecessary levels of profit-seeking-at-the-expense-of-gaming.

Nobody begrudges a publisher or a developer their success or profits. But fan loyalty is not the price any company should pay for short-term profits. EA's share price has never recovered from the stock market crash, in spite of the rapidly growing video game sector. Maybe this has something to do with it.

Increased use of DRM, day-one DLC, and other moves seen by fans as particularly unfriendly ways to combat piracy or nickel-and-dime consumers have a tendency to backfire. Somewhere between the scramble for more profits and customer service lies a proper balance. I'm just a video game pundit, of course. I have no idea how hard it is to run a massive business like EA, but from where I'm standing things sure aren't looking good.

Maybe EA has simply become an avatar of greed in an industry still trying to perfect that balance; even if that's the case, the impulse to respond with fluff PR statements ought to be at the very least coupled with some real concrete steps toward improving fan (and developer) relations.

Paul Tassi says it's time for gamers to vote with their wallets, not just in online polls. He's right, of course. EA may respond to an online "Worst Company" contest, but they're not going to change unless the bottom line changes.